Editing Color code (section)

==Criticism==
Color codes present some potential problems. On forms and signage, the use of color can distract from black and white text.<ref name="Cohen">See, e.g., Michael Richard Cohen, ''Medication Errors'' (2007), p. 119.</ref>

Color codes are often designed without consideration for accessibility to [[color blindness|color blind]] and blind people, and may even be inaccessible for those with normal color vision, since use of many colors to code many variables can lead to use of confusingly similar colors.<ref name="Cohen"/><ref name="COLE04">{{cite journal |last1=Cole |first1=Barry L |title=The handicap of abnormal colour vision |journal=Clinical and Experimental Optometry |date=1 July 2004 |volume=87 |issue=4–5 |pages=258–275 |doi=10.1111/j.1444-0938.2004.tb05056.x|pmid=15312030 }}</ref> Only 15–40% of the colorblind can correctly name surface color codes with 8–10 color categories, most of which test as mildly colorblind. This finding uses ideal illumination; when dimmer illumination is used, performance drops sharply.<ref name="COLE04"/>